Faucet for delivering molten glass.



\ c. H. HUBBARD & G. RUPPERT. FAUCET FOR DELIVERIVNG MOLTEN GLASS. APPLICATION FlLED MAY8,1916.

1,200,195. Patented om; 3,1916.

CHARLES H. HUBBARD AND ASSIGNORS TO ALEXANDER 'H. KERR, OF SAND FAUCET FOR DELIVERING MOLTEN GLASS '3 f Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led May 8, 1916.' Serial No. 96,116.-v

To all wwm t may concern Be it known that we, CHARLES H. HUB- BARI) and GEORGE RUPPERT, both citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Sand Springs, county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain -new and useful Improvements in Faucets for DeliveringMolten Glass, of which the following is `a specification.

faucets for delivering molten glass, and is l particularly well adapted for use in connection with glass furnaces where it is desired to withdraw regulated quantities of molten glass from the furnace at suitable intervals. The objects ofthe invention are, to provide a device of the class described in which the flow of glass from the receptacle may be arrested from time to time without danger of clogging the discharge orifice; to provide a faucet which is capable of delivering Y any desired quantity of molten glass when tion .of the tank `the same is open to provide a construction in which the operation need not be automatic but may manual control; to provide a construction such that the-skill of the operator may be used in order to determine the precise quantity of molten glass which shall be delivered from the furnace whenever the faucet is opened; to provide a construction so organized that the rate of How of the molten glass through the faucet may be regulated at will; to provide a construction which shall be absolutely non-clogging, even if the faucet be maintained in closed condition for a length of time greater than the regular interval between successive openings of the device; to provide a construction by which the fluidity or plasticity of the molten glass may be reg- .ula'ted at will, independently of the iiuidity of the molten glass contained in the furnace; to provide a 'device which shall be snnple and inexpensive to construct and efficlent and economical to o erate and malntaln,

and, in general, to provlde an improved con# struction of the character referred to. In the drawings `which illustrate apreferred` embodiment of our inventlon, Figure '1 is a vertical section of a fragmentaryporof a glass furnace to which Your invention is applied;` and Fig.l 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. In thedrawings, 10 represents the' side or breast of the tank ofa glass furnace con- Our invention, relates to improvements in preferably be arranged for l than the apertures` belng also GEORGE RUPPERT, OF SAND SPRINGS, OKLAHOMA,

SPRING, ox o Patented oct. 3', 1916.

a trough or boot 13 secured to the side of' the tank. Said boot 13 is furnished with a cover portion 14 the opposite sides of which 4areperforated, as shown at 15, in order to admit streams of gaseous fuel for the purpose of heating the molten glass contained within the trough or boot 13 and so mainta1n1ng the proper degree of iuidity. The boot 13 and cover 14 are made of a refractory lire clay or other suitable fire-proof material, .as is'also the bushing 16 which is 'seated 1n the floor of the boot 13 and which 1s apertured, as shown at 17, inorder to prov1de a discharge orifice for the molten glass.

en 1t is desired to discontinue the delivery of glass from the tank for any extended period, we prefer to close the upper end of the aperture`17 by means of a ire clay plug or rod 18 which may be raised or lowered through an aperture in the cover 14 in any sultable manner. Under the fioor of the boot we mount a rather thick heavy plate 19 of cast-iron or similar material which is supported by means of four rods or bolts 2O dependmg from a plate 21 placed on the top of the cover 14.

Between the plate 19 and the Hoor of the boot 13 We prefer to interpose asubsidiary metal plate 22 which surrounds the lower end of the clay 'bushing 16, and to which are detachably secured, in any suitable manner, on its upper side, a plurality of bars or rods 23 the inner ends of which enter a circum- Th exterior of the 1t convenient to remove or replace the clav below the clay bushlng 16 and concentric With its aperture 17 we insert in the plate 19 a removable metal bushing 25, the aperture 1n whlch is at its upper end slightly larger 1 in the clay bushing, the diameter of the aperture at the lower end eater than at the upper end.

is arrangement makes `1 The walls o said bushing 25 are made thick enough to accommodate an o annular water chamber or jacket 26 for the purpose of cooling said metal bushing 25. A iowy of vcooling water through or around said water jacket 26 is furnished by meansof-an inlet plpe 27 and an outlet pipe 28 communicatlmg at dametrlca'lly opposite points with the 110 I upper -of cooling fluid may be regulated by a pair vis dart of the water chamber. The flow of valves 29 and 30 arranged respectively in the inlet and exhaust pipes 27 and 28.l

The bottom of the` metal bushing is turned or dressed of -so as to constitute a smooth sharp shearing edge 31 with which coperates a horizontally reciprocable shear blade 32 for-the purpose of severing the stream ofmolten glass issuing from said bushing. The shear member 32 also, its'shearing movement, constitutes a gate which closes the bottom of the metal bushing 25 and thus arrests the `further flow of molten glass. Said shear blade or gate member 32 may if desired be water cooled as at 33, the cooling fluid being conveyed to the shear blade by means of flexible conduits, in any well known manner.

The gate member or shear blade 32 is guided and maintained in working engagement with the bottom of the bushing 25 by means of a pair of opposed guide members 34 which are suitably secured to the under side of the late 19 as by screws 35. The outer end o .the gate member 32 is formed with a boss 36 for the reception of the rod 37 which actuates the shear blade through a piston 38 reciprocable in an air cylinder 39. It is understood that compressed air may be admitted to or exhausted from either end of the cylinder 39 byfwayofthe ports 40 and 41, which may be controlled by any l well known form of valve, the arrangement being such that the operator may move the gate member or shear in either direction at will. Y

In Fig. 2 vwe have shown diagrammatically a mold 42, which may be one of a series ofcmolds of a glass-molding machine and arranged to be moved successively into a position directly beneath receive a supply of molten glass issuing therefrom. VIt should be understood, however, that the faucet is capable of being utilized with any type of mold or-molding apparatus.

Describing the operation of the apparatus, Fig. 1 shows the condition a short time after .the gate member has been moved inwardly by means of the'piston 38 so as to arrest the flow of glass into the mold. Insaid Fig. 1 it will be observed that immediately. below thedischarge orifice 17 in the clay bushing 16 the molten glass issuing from the clay bushing is conical in shape, as at 43.- When the low of cooling water through the water chamber 26 is properly regulatedby means of the valves 29 and 30, the outside of said cone-shaped stream is considerably cooler` and consequently harder and less fluid than the central'portion of the cone-shapeddischarge. The result is that the flow of glass takes place only at the lower end of the cone wherer the glass issuing from the bushing aftery the faucet so as tov 16 possesses the greatest degree of fluidity. In Fig. 1 it will be seen 4that the molten glass which has flowed out of the end of the cone-shaped discharge 43 has accumulated upon the top of the gate member, as shown at 44, and is in the act of sealing the end of the cone 43, thereby arresting further flow of molten glass into the cavity of the lousning 25. 1t should be understood that the cooling of the water chamber 26 effects a slight hardening of the upper surface of the body of glass 44 and assists in preventing the body of glass 44 from quite filling up the cavity in .the bushing 25, even though the gate member 32 be left in closed position for a considerable length of time. When a new mold 42 has been brought into register beneath the faucet and whenever the operator is ready to fill said mold, the gate member 32 is withdrawn and the body of glass 44, which has accumulated in the watercooled cavity, drops by gravity into the mold, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. When this occurs, the flow of glass out of the lower end of the cone 43, which has been arrested by the accumulation of the body of of the flow of glass, by reason of the fact that its weight is suflicient to break the hardened connection between the cone 43 and the gob. The central or fluid portion of the cone 43 is thus drawn down by the falling gob and the glass flows out of the lower end of the clay bushing, as shown in Fig. 2. When a sufficient quantity of molten glass has dropped into the mold, the operator cuts through the narrow neck 45 by means of the forward movement'of the shear, thereby arresting the further flow of glass.

By means of the valves 29 and 30 the opy erator is able to control the iuidity of the glass and the rate of flow. The fluidity of the gob may also to some extent be regulated by the length of time during which vthe gate` member 32 is maintained in closed osition. Where the apparatus is employed 1n conjunction with an molding it possible to regulate the operation with great nicety by reason of the fact that it is a simple matter to lengthen the intervals between the successive shear movements and thereby cool off -the gobs of lass if the molds or other parts of the g ass-molding machine are becoming too hot, or in case the glass which is deposited in the molds is found to be of too high temperature. l

So far as we are aware, we are the rst to employ an apparatus employing an intermittent flow and in which 1t is possible to absolutely arrest the flow of glass between successive discharges. This method of opantomatic glasseration'has important advantages over apmachine, the manual control makes,

paratus of the continuous fiow t pe, in which the quantity of glass which 1s to be deposited into each mold is determined by the speed of operation. Our invention` differs from such continuous flow devices in that the judgment of the operator successive molds.

Although the amount of glass discharged in each mold is Wholly within the control of the operator and is not limited to the capacityv of the bushing 25, we prefer to make the capacity of a size commensurate with the quantity of molten glass desired to deposited in each mold. This enables the operator to reduce to a minimum lthe period between opening and closing movements of the gate member and consequently shortens the time during which it is necessary to position each mold of the molding machlne under the faucet in order to deposit the required quantity of-glass therein.

Since the details of the invention may be varied without sacrificing its benefits or advantages, the scope of the invention must be determined by reference to the appended claims.

We claim- 1. In a faucet for delivering molten glass, the combination of a fire-proof receptacle containingfiuid glass and provided at its under side with a downwardly directed discharge orifice, a metal inclosure under saidorifice, 1ts upper end being closed by the receptacle and in communication with said discharge orifice, means for opening and closing the bottom end of said inclosure, said inclosure when closed constituting a temporary receiver for limiting the flow of glass issuing from said orifice and being of greater cross sectional area than said discharge orifice so that when the inclosure is open atits lower end the discharging stream of glass does' not touch the inclosure and means for cooling said inclosure and there# by chilling the unsupported surface of the stream of glass issuing from said orifice.

2. In a faucet for delivering molten glass, the combination of a fire-proof receptacle containing fluid glass and provided at its under side with a downwardly directed discharge orifice, an upwardly converging tapering metal inclosure under said orifice, its upper end being closed by the receptacle and in communlcation with said discharge orifice, means for opening and closing the bottom end of said inclosure, said inclosure when closed constituting a temporary receiver for, and limiting the flow of, glass issuing from said orifice and being of greater c ross sectional area than said discharge orifice so that when the inclosure is open at its lower end the discharging stream of glass does not touch the inclosure, and means for cooling the wall of said inclosure so as to chill the' unsupported outer skin of the stream of glass issuing from said orifice.

CHARLES H. HUBBARD. GEORGE RUPPERT. 

